Monas upgrades menu management solution

The product, which simplifies and streamlines the menu management process within chain operations, now has an improved suite of features to meet the evolving needs of restaurant operators, said Christopher Walsh, president for Monas. New to this version are a powerful one-click online publishing tool guaranteeing optimal online menu visibility with cross-platform and mobile compatibility, and a nutritional databank to facilitate restaurants' compliance with the federal menu labeling laws which come into effect this year.

Initially developed as a custom-built tool for the Marriott Hotels in the early 2000s, Menuology was quickly tailored to its core market, chain restaurants, and brought to market in its previous incarnation: the Menu Manager. Now the lynchpin of the menu management process for a number of chain restaurants groups, including P.F. Chang's and Bonefish Grill, Menuology offers an unprecedented level of speed, flexibility, control and accuracy in the menu management process, Walsh said.

The system tackles every aspect of the menu management process, in one easy-to-use, online interface, built to the needs of each client. It sets rules for everything from item placement to price points, layout and brand parameters, mandated items and print frequency.

"The only thing Menuology doesn't do is print the menus, although it does let our clients decide where, when and how many to print systemwide," Walsh said.

The two key features of Menuology, he said, are the cost savings it offers in terms of both man-hours and menu management control, namely through its real-time review and approval process, and added brand value through the effortless standardization of a company's brand identity across every menu, and every medium through which it's disseminated.

"The customer-brand relationship is crucial to the success and profitability of restaurants, and we know how much of that is down to consistency, as with everything else in the restaurant trade," Walsh said. "The menu is an integral part of that, and we've made sure to give operators all the tools they need to make the most out of it, for the lowest possible cost."